In your papers. you identified many important themes of early American society. In particular, many papers discussed the fact that the Chesapeake colonists and those that settled in New England did so for vastly different reasons. In addition, many of you wrote about the similar experiences that these settlers had dealing with Amerindians, the wilderness conditions in the New World, and the importance of community (or lack thereof) in the new colonial societies. After reading all of the papers, some common errors emerged as well. The following suggestions address problems or weaknesses that appeared in many of your papers.

Writing: Making an argument and supporting it well.

1. Have a point. Your introduction should include a thesis statement for the entire paper. The paragraphs in the body of the paper should be "signposted" so that the reader knows what one subject or part of your argument you will be writing about. Each paragraph should end with a conclusion or transition that sums up that point for your reader, and prepares him/her for the next topic.

2. Get to the point. Many of you included sentences like: "The societies of New England and the Chesapeake were similar in their similarities and different in their differences." This sentence actually tells us nothing. Say what those differences and similarities were, clearly and specifically. "The societies of New England and the Chesapeake, despite the differing reasons that led to their settlement, both developed social hierarchies similar to that which existed in England." This sentence does not go into too much detail, but previews the argument for the reader.

3. History describes the past. Therefore, use the past tense when describing historical events.

4. Prove it. Every point you make, whether it is a fact you're offering in support of an argument or a paraphrase of another historian's work, needs to be cited. The only exception to this rule is "common knowledge." "The Chesapeake consists of Virginia and Maryland" does not need to be cited. "Virginia was settled in 1607 by 'gentlemen' who scorned manual labor and by poor men eager to make it on their own" should be.

5. Prove it in several ways. The best papers will use a variety of types of evidence. In other words, you should try to use the primary materials assigned in this course, as well as the information obtained in the textbooks and lectures. For example, a student describing the religious roots of Massachusetts, could use a quote from Mary Rowlandson in conjunction with factual evidence from lecture. In that way, you've told us and shown us.

In addition, making sure that you have evidence for every point (including a citation) will protect you from errors. In other words, if you look up the founding date for Chesapeake, you will not find one, which should be a big hint.

6. Name it. Titles help the reader know what your topic will be. "Differences and Similarities in the Chesapeake and New England" doesn't help much.

7. The Chesapeake (don't forget the article "the") and New England were not colonies themselves. "The Chesapeake" refers to Maryland and Virginia. "New England" consists of Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware were the Middle Colonies. Given this information, "the Chesapeake colony" was never founded-Virginia and Maryland were.

8. Proofread. If you don't know what a word means, look it up. If you don't know how to spell it, check a dictionary. Ask yourself, if you were reading your paper and you weren't in the class, would it make sense?

Proofreading Marks:

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